The 49ers snuck past the Saints 48-46 to move back into first place in the NFC. Perhaps not as important as the win and all of the playoff ramifications it may have, but still vital, is the statement the 49ers made in the Superdome. It was a powerful enough statement to move San Francisco back to the No. 2 spot in the NFL Wire power rankings after a one-week stay at No. 4.
Their victory in a shootout, on the road, against a top NFC contender, answered all lingering questions about the 49ers’ viability as a Super Bowl hopeful. Doug Farrar, who authors the NFL Wire power rankings, pointed to Jimmy Garoppolo’s performance as the reason for the 49ers’ official arrival:
With the 48-46 win, the 49ers vaulted from the fifth seed to the first in the NFC and made it clear that anyone who wants to take that seed from them will have to earn it. Though Robert Saleh’s defense showed some disturbing vulnerabilities against Brees and his receivers, Jimmy Garoppolo made up for it with a bravura performance in which he completed 26 of 35 passes for 349 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. More than any other win the 49ers have earned this season, this one showed them as a team capable of beating anybody. After losing to the Ravens the week before, it was an important statement to make.
It was the defense’s first bad week of the season. If the trend continues over the final three regular-season games, San Francisco will have a problem. One game does not a defense make.
Their offensive explosion Sunday was more a result of a gradual climb, and evidence that the 49ers can throw haymakers after getting hit with one. The Saints were up 20-7 before Garoppolo unleashed a 75-yard bomb to Emmanuel Sanders for a touchdown. Then they kept hitting back and answering every New Orleans score.
The performance capped a three-game stretch against the Packers, at Baltimore, and at New Orleans. San Francisco went 2-1 with the lone loss coming on a last-second field goal against the Ravens.
It may have taken awhile, but the 49ers have finally checked every conceivable box a Super Bowl contender could possibly need to check. They have to be the NFC favorite going into Week 15, and their presence atop the NFL Wire power rankings this late in the year is evidence that they’ve passed all of their regular-season tests. Now all that’s left to do is keep winning into February.